The Medium is a 2021 Thai-South Korean found footage mockumentary supernatural folk horror film directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and the cast includes Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan, Yasaka Chaisorn and Boonsong Nakphoo.
My Thoughts On The Medium
The Medium is a horror film rooted so deeply in faith, routine, and responsibility that the supernatural aspects of it almost feels like an extension rather than an intrusion.
The film presents itself as a documentary following Nim, a middle-aged woman living in a small village in Northern Thailand, where she is a shaman who believes she has been chosen by the goddess Ba Yan, where her role as a spiritual guide is woven into her daily routine.
There’s a quiet respect in how the film observes Nim’s rituals, featuring her pilgrimages to the mountains, her prayers, and her healing practices are shown without explanation or commentary, where the camera simply watches, and it feels like we’re witnessing something deeply personal, almost private.
The documentary framing of it all really helps creates a sense of intrusion that never quite goes away, but that sense of calm, however, doesn’t last, as when Nim’s brother dies, the focus shifts to his daughter, Mink, and the longer Mink is on screen, the harder it becomes to ignore that something is very wrong.
She avoids the camera, snaps at her family, and behaves in ways that seem less like possession and more like someone buckling under pressure, and that ambiguity works in the film’s favor, where you are torn between empathy and dread, and when things do finally tip into outright horror, it doesn’t feel sudden, but inevitable.
The footage from the interviews, handheld cameras, and later, security cameras installed to monitor Mink feels a bit excessive, especially when logic starts to stretch, but each new angle feels like another layer being peeled back, even when what’s underneath is hard to look at.
The security camera footage, is particularity good, as there's something unsettling about watching horror unfold through static frames and fixed angles, and one night-vision scene where Mink wanders through the house in near silence is incredibly haunting because of how detached it feels. T
Where The Medium really commits though is in its final act, where the setting moves to an abandoned building tied to old spirits and unresolved anger, and the film finally unleashes everything it has been holding back, and I loved the ending a lot.
Overall, even though some scenes repeat the same ideas without adding much, and the pacing will test some peoples patience, it’s a film that takes its time, demands attention, and isn’t afraid to make you uncomfortable.
And if you’re someone who prefers horror that builds gradually and leans into atmosphere and belief rather than constant shock, this is worth your time, and if that kind of pacing appeals to you, films like Noroi or certain Japanese and Korean horror titles are natural follow-ups.
The Medium is well worth a watch though and stands on its own merits.
[The Medium on IMDB] [Where to watch The Medium]
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